Ask Trooper Keith: Can I drive through a parking lot to get around a busy traffic light?

Saturday

Sep 28, 2013 at 10:10 PM

A reader asked this week if they can drive through a parking lot when traffic is backed up at a traffic light.

Trooper Keith Disselkoen asktrooperkeith@gmail.com

A reader asked this week if they can drive through a parking lot when traffic is backed up at a traffic light.

In other words, can you drive through a parking lot to avoid a traffic light? For example, can a vehicle that is southbound on M-66 go through the parking lot of Walgreens to go west on Tuttle?

No, you cannot. It is illegal to drive across private property to avoid a traffic control device.

The Michigan Vehicle Code addresses this in section 257.611 (2): “The driver of a vehicle shall not, for the purpose of avoiding obedience to a traffic control device placed in accordance with this chapter, drive upon or through private property, or upon or through public property which is not a street or highway.”

This applies not only to traffic lights, but to all traffic control devices, such as stop signs, yield signs, lane markings, one-way signs, and even Michigan left-turns.

Keith Disselkoen is a Community Service Trooper for the MSP Lakeview Post. If you have a question for Trooper Disselkoen, you can email him at asktrooperkeith@gmail.com.